‘Colonize planets to save the human race’ – Professor Stephen Hawking

World famous physicist Stephen Hawking says humankind should colonize other planets to ensure the future of the species. He claimed armed aggression could end civilization and that space travel would provide somewhere to go.

While taking an American
visitor on tour of London’s Science Museum, the physicist said
colonizing other planets could be “life insurance” for
whatever embattled remnants of the human race still existed
following a nuclear apocalypse.

“Sending humans to the moon changed the future of the human
race in ways that we don't yet understand,” he said.

“It hasn't solved any of our immediate problems on planet
Earth, but it has given us new perspectives on them and caused us
to look both outward and inward.”

“I believe that the long term future of the human race must
be space and that it represents an important life insurance for
our future survival, as it could prevent the disappearance of
humanity by colonizing other planets,” he added.

His remarks came while he escorted Adaeze Uyanwah, from Palmdale,
California, around the museum, a prize she won after producing a
blog and video describing her “perfect day” in the
capital.

Hawking also said, were it possible, he would eradicate
aggression from the list of human shortcomings, saying it had the
capacity to end humanity.

“The human failing I would most like to correct is
aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days,
to get more food, territory or a partner with whom to reproduce,
but now it threatens to destroy us all.”

“A major nuclear war would be the end of civilization, and
maybe the end of the human race.”

When asked which human facets he valued the most, he said
“empathy.”

“The quality I would most like to magnify is empathy. It
brings us together in a peaceful, loving state,” Hawking
said.

Uyanwah, who is a teacher and a creative writer, beat tens of
thousands of contestants to win the prize.

She said the opportunity to meet the professor was
“incredible.”

“It's incredible to think that decades from now, when my
grandchildren are learning Stephen Hawking's theories in science
class, I'll be able to tell them I had a personal meeting with
him and heard his views first hand. It's something I'll never
forget.”

Hawking has previously issued other bleak warnings about the
future of the human race. In December last year, he said
artificial intelligence had the capacity to spell the end of
civilization.